Improved railroad-car truck



1. P. LAIRD.

Car Truck.

No. 51,063. Patented Nov. 21, 1865.

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UNITED STATES PATENT @Errea JOHN P. LAIRD, OF AIJ'IOONA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVED RAILROAD-CAR TRUCK.

Specificationforniing part of Letters Patent N0. 51,063, dated November21, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN P. LAIRD, of Altoona, Blairvcounty,Pennsylvania, have invented an Improved Metal rIruck for Locomotives,Src.; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the same, reference being' had to the accom panyingdrawings, and to the letters ot reference marked thereon.

Myinvention consists 1n constructing trucks for locomotives and cars ofiron as described hereinafter, in order that theymay be lighter,stronger, and more durable than trucks made partly ot' wood and partlyot iron.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to make and usemyinvention, I will now proceed to describe its construction an doperation.

On ieference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part ot' thisspecification, Figure l is a side view ot` my improved metal truck forrailway-cars, Fig. 2, an end view; Fig. 3, a plan view, partly insection, of a portion ot' the truck; Fig. 4, a longitudinal section;Fig. 5, a transverse section on the line l 2, Fig. 3; Fig. 6, atransverse section on the line 4, Fig. l, and Figs. 7 and S detachedviews of parts ot' the truck drawn to an enlarged scale.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The main portion of the frame ofthe truck consists ofthe side castings,A, and the transverse beams B and B', the peculiar const-rue tion ofwhich it will be necessary to describe in the outset.

Each of the pieces A is a frame composed otl the upper and lowerhorizontal portions, a and a', and the vertical portions a, ct", andam', the whole being castin one piece and arranged in the manner bestobserved on reference to Fig. 7.

Each of the transverse beams B and B is composed ot` two plates ofsheet-iron, with an intervening packing ot wood, each beam being securedat each end to one ofthe vertical portions a or a" of the piece A bybolts c o, the

two platesofthe beam litting,if dcemed'necessary, into recesses, one inone side and the other in the opposite side of one of the said verticalportions ot' the side castings, A.

DD are the guides, in which slide the usual axle-boxes, E, (see Fig.1,)"these guides being titte-d above to the inclined barF and diagonalbrace Gr, and below to the horizontal bar H, and the whole being securedtogether by bolts d, passing through the guides.

The inclined barF is fitted to the top of the piece A, and the diagonalbrace G and horizontal barH to the under side ot the said piece A, towhich the several bars are secured by the three bolts e e e, one ofwhich passes through each of the vertical portions a, ed, and am of theside castings, A.

The truck is furnished with the usual axles and langed wheels I.

J is the bolster, which rests on two pairs of elliptical springs, K, asseen in Figs. 4 and 6, aportion ofthe said springs projecting throughthe side castings, A, ofthe frame. The lower bands,f, of each pair ofsprings t in sockets formed in a bar, L, Figs. t and 8, which serve toconnect the two hangers MM together, each hanger being permanent-lysecured to the inside ot' either th'e inner or outer plate of eachbeam,and having on the top a lip overhanging and bearing on the upper edgeot' the plate.

The two pairs ot' hangers are connected together by horizontal rods N N.

P is the usual center plate, secured to the bolster, and j the hole inthe latter for receiving the king-bolt.

R It are safety-beams, secured to the transverse beams and terminatingin a bearing, 7c, adapted to and situated above the axle, but free fromContact therewith at all times, ex" cepting when an axle accidentallybreaks.

T T are the brake-shoes, each of which is hung by a link to a pin, m,secured at one end to the trame ot' the truck and at the opposite end toone of the safety-beams, as seen in FiO. 3, two of the shoes beingconnected together by a brake-beam, U, and to each. brake-beam isjointed a lever, V, the short arms of the two levers being connectedtogether by tWo bars, W, and the upper arm of each lever operatirg inguides X, projecting from one of the trans verse beams of the frame.

The levers are connected to the usual brak in g-tackle.

and D' or their equivalents, for the reception of the axle-boxes.

3. lhe cast-iron bar L, having sockets for the reception ot' thesprngsbands ff, in oombination with the permanent hangers M'M.

In testimony whereof I have signed my naine to this speeieation in thepresence otwo subseribing Witnesses.

Witnesses H. HoWsoN, W. W. DOUGHERTY.

JN0. P.Y Lamo.

